Valve has announced The International, a new tournament which will offer the first public glimpse of Dota 2, its upcoming action strategy title based on the popular Defense of the Ancients mod for Blizzard's Warcraft III. The Dota 2 tournament will take place August 17th through the 21st at Gamescom in Cologne, Germany, and will award the winners a prize of $1 million.

The International features the 16 best Dota teams in the world competing in the Dota 2 Championships through a group stage, double elimination playoff format over the course of Cologne's five-day trade show.

The tournament will be broadcast in four languages (Chinese, German, Russian, and English) free of charge. The winning team will receive $1 million.

"The International is the first public Dota 2 event and will give the tens of millions of gamers playing Dota around the world their first look at the new game," said Gabe Newell, president and founder of Valve. "I have had the good fortune to watch the competitors as they prepare for the tournament, and the level of play is extraordinary."

In addition to the cash prizes awarded by Valve, NVidia is providing all the hardware for the event.